| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ten | zehn |
| jealous | eifersüchtig |
| The little man is jealous. | Der kleine Mann ist eifersüchtig. |
| The next day he goes again during coffee break to the little coffee shop. | Am nächsten Tag geht er in der Kaffeepause wieder in das kleine Café. |
| Not because he wants to see the beautiful woman... | Nicht weil er die schöne Frau sehen will... |
| rather /on the contrary | vielmehr |
| to avoid | vermeiden |
| rather because he wants to avoid seeing her. | vielmehr weil er es vermeiden will, sie zu sehen. |
| He doesn't want to see her together with the boss. | Er will sie nicht mit dem Chef zusammen sehen. |
| never again | nie wieder |
| He would also prefer never to see the boss again. | Am liebsten würde er den Chef auch nie wieder sehen. |
| But that can't be avoided. | Aber das läßt sich nicht vermeiden. |
| He needs his work. | Er braucht seine Arbeit. |
| easy | leicht |
| He won't find easily a new job. | Einen neuen Job findet er nicht leicht. In German we don't need the future tense here. It is a general truth. Jobs are not easy to be had. and present tense will suffice in German. |
| He goes into the coffee shop and sits down at the little table in the corner. | Er geht in das Café und setzt sich an den kleinen Tisch in der Ecke. I didn't contract in das to ins here. I have in mind to stress the word in with my voice. We already know he was going to the coffee shop. He was walking slowly, deeply in his thoughts... but now he finally enters the place. But mind, ins would be correct... |
| to trust | trauen trauen -to trust /believe sich trauen to dare (to trust oneself to do sthg) |
| the eyes | die Augen |
| He doesn't believe his eyes. | Er traut seinen Augen nicht. |
| The beautiful woman sits at the neighbour table. | Am Nachbartisch sitzt die schöne Frau. |
| She smiles at him. | Sie lächelt zu ihm herüber. You could translate this as Sie lächelt ihn an. However here this smile has to cross quite a distance - from one table to another - therefore I used herüber Also keep in mind, we are looking with the eyes of the little man. Here is where he is and she is over there. She smiles from over there towards here (her-). Her smile crosses over (über) the tables. |
| the sign | das Zeichen |
| the hand | die Hand |
| with a hand | mit der Hand |
| She makes a sign with her hand. | Sie macht ein Zeichen mit der Hand. |
| He should come | Er soll kommen |
| He should come to her. | Er soll zu ihr kommen. |
| He should come over to her. | Er soll zu ihr hinüberkommen. We are still looking with the eyes of the little man. He is here and he should go over there (dahin). Er geht hin. - He goes over there. But now the lady is talking. She wants him to come She says: "Come!" "Komm zu mir herüber. He says: "I shall come?" "I shall come over there?" "Ich soll hinüberkommen?" |
| that | daß |
| She makes a sign with the hand that he should come over to her. | Sie macht ein Zeichen mit der Hand, daß er zu ihr hinüberkommen soll. |
| He doesn't go (over there). | Er geht nicht hinüber. |
| to wave | winken |
| She waves again. | Sie winkt noch einmal. |
| He looks away. | Er blickt weg. |
| The beautiful woman comes over to him. | Die schöne Frau kommt zu ihm herüber. Still looking with the man's eyes.
She was there , now she comes towards here (herüber) |
| She sits down at his table and says... | Sie setzt sich an seinen Tisch und sagt... |
| What's the matter? | Was ist los? |
| to think | denken |
| I thought | Ich dachte |
| the friend /the boyfriend | der Freund |
| the friends | die Freunde |
| we | wir |
| we are | wir sind |
| We are friends. | Wir sind Freunde. |
| I thought we were friends. | Ich dachte wir wären Freunde. (a common way of speech)
A more formal version would be: Ich dachte, daß wir Freunde sind. or with the use of conjunctive: Ich dachte, wir wären Freunde. (implying that apparently that is not the case) |
| "I thought so, too," says the little man. | "Das dachte ich auch." sagt der kleine Mann. |
| to know | wissen wissen (to know a fact/ to have knowledge) kennen (to be familiar/acquainted with) Do you know Peter? I know who he is, but I don't know him personally. Kennst du Peter? Ich weiß, wer er ist, aber ich kenne ihn nicht (persönlich). meaning: wissen - I can point on him, I know what he looks like ... nicht kennen - I never talked to him, I don't know much/ anything about him... |
| I knew | ich wußte |
| I didn't know | Ich wußte nicht |
| the (female) friend/ the girlfriend | die Freundin |
| the girlfriend of the boss | die Freundin des Chefs |
| my boss | mein Chef |
| the girlfriend of my boss | die Freundin meines Chefs btw. the word 'die' is what makes her the girlfriend. She is this one special friend... eine Freundin meines Chefs - a (female) friend of my boss |
| "I didn't know that you are the girlfriend of my boss." | "Ich wußte nicht, daß Sie die Freundin meines Chefs sind." |
| (the) trouble | der Ärger |
| enough | genug |
| I have enough trouble. | Ich habe genug Ärger. |
| the scandal | der Skandal |
| no scandal (acc.) | keinen Skandal |
| "I can't afford (having) a scandal." | "Ich kann mir keinen Skandal leisten." |
| "I am not the girlfriend of the boss, I am merely his secretary." | "Ich bin nicht die Freundin des Chefs, ich bin bloß seine Sekretärin." |